Development of a questionnaire to test the impact of scarce materials on design in Developing Countries

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to create a questionnaire that tests how designers in developing countries design with scarce resources. The questionnaire will be given to mechanical engineering students in Mexico and will ask them to design and sketch ideas for several products that would help physically disabled shopkeepers. However, each student must use only materials provided on a specific list to manufacture their products. The list of materials has very basic items like plywood, aluminum bars, and springs. Along with these materials, found objects were also added to the list of materials. These included things that can be found rather easily in a developing country like an iron or a tire. Making the students design using only these sparse raw materials and found objects should simulate designing in a developing country with limited resources. The questionnaire and materials list underwent several revisions before it was sent to Mexico, wherein American engineering students took the questionnaire and then gave feedback that was used to make changes to the questionnaire. After three rounds of revising, the questionnaire and materials list were finalized and then sent to Mexico where they were taken by engineering students at local universities.